The new Adelaide Festival board has made a stunning U-turn, retracting its previous statement about Palestinian author Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah and inviting her to speak at the 2027 Writers’ Week.

On Thursday, the Adelaide Festival Corporation apologised “unreservedly for the harm [it] has caused” Abdel-Fattah and asked that she speak at next year’s event.

The new board also retracted its statement from January 8 saying it was excluding Abdel-Fattah “because it would be culturally insensitive to allow her to participate”.

A move to establish a subcommittee to work with “relevant government agencies” and outside experts to oversee a board-led review and guide decisions about Writers’ Week has also been rescinded.

The latest twist follows a week of controversy surrounding the Adelaide Festival after the board announced it had banned Abdel-Fattah from the 2026 Writers’ Week lineup.

It led to about 180 writers withdrawing from the event in support of Abdel-Fattah, and director Louise Adler’s resignation. All but one board member then resigned, with four new members appointed by the South Australian government on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, lawyers for Sydney-born Abdel-Fattah launched defamation proceedings against South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas over some of his comments on the issue.

Also on Wednesday, the entire Writers’ Week was cancelled for 2026.

On Thursday, the new board said “intellectual and artistic freedom is a powerful human right”.

“Our goal is to uphold it, and in this instance Adelaide Festival Corporation fell short,” it said.

It said it “would like to reassure the people of South Australia it is thoroughly committed to the successful delivery of Adelaide Festival 2026”.

The Adelaide Festival’s new chair, Judy Potter, also offered an apology to Adler.

“We also wish to apologise to Louise Adler AM that the incredible Adelaide Writers’ Week program she had worked so hard to curate for 2026 has been cancelled as a result of the events that have unfolded over the last week after the announcement of the decision to rescind the invitation to Dr Abdel-Fattah,” Potter said.

“Louise is a revered figure of Australian literature who we hold in the highest regard. Her contributions to, and stewardship of, Adelaide Writers’ Week in the time she has been the director (2023-2025) have been outstanding.”

Abdel-Fattah posted a statement to social media saying she accepted the apology.

“I will consider the board’s invitation to participate in Adelaide Writers’ Week at the appropriate time but would be there in a heartbeat if Lousie Adler was the director again,” she said.

“While Adelaide Festival’s statement acknowledges the harm done, it is not a quick fix to repair the damage and injury inflicted.”

Potter said the earlier decision to establish a subcommittee was rescinded, saying the board was committed to curatorial independence.

“We understand that many in the community are urging reconsideration of the cancellation of Adelaide Writers’ Week in 2026,” she said on Thursday.

“While we fervently share that desire, our informed assessment of the situation is that it is simply no longer viable for it to proceed.

“We are determined that Adelaide Writers’ Week will rise again and our energies will be directed to that mission.”

Adelaide Festival chief executive Julian Hobba said he and artistic director Matt Lutton were “fully focused on and committed to the successful presentation of Adelaide Festival 2026”.

Malinauskas has consistently denied political interference in the festival, saying he had “never intervened or directed the board, and nor should I, in fact, as a matter of law, I can’t”.

“I’ve been pretty clear about all this, and I’ve said everything I possibly can. I’ve been very transparent about my views of things, and the board has made independent decisions,” he said on Wednesday.

A spokesperson said Malinauskas had no further comment on Thursday.

SA Opposition Leader Ashton Hurn has reiterated calls for an independent review of Writers’ Week.

“This on-again, off-again scenario is just not good for Adelaide’s reputation,” Hurn said.

Also on Thursday, former Adelaide Festival board member Tony Berg released a statement to some media outlets claiming Adler, former Adelaide Festival director Ruth Mackenzie and CEO Kath Mainland gave the board an “ultimatum” in 2024 that they would resign if Jewish writer Thomas Friedman was not disinvited.

Adler did not respond to requests for comment.

Berg is a former governor of the Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce.

Plans to salvage 2026 Writers’ Week

An indie-publishing house and SA’s peak literary body Writers SA is trying to salvage something of the 2026 Writers’ Week.

Writers SA director Claire Hicks said the organisation had spoken to booksellers, publishers and writers “who feel passionate about the loss of Writers’ Week”.

It is understood there have been meetings with writers and stakeholders since the cancellation. SA independent publisher Pink Shorts Press said there has been “a lot of interest” from writers and stakeholders to organise a guerrilla festival or protest event.

Adelaide City councillor Keiran Snape – an independent candidate in March’s SA election – has called a special council meeting for Monday, where he will move for WritersSA to be funded with $250,000 to run an alternative event.

Meanwhile, the Australia Institute – the first Writers’ Week sponsor to pull out after Abdel-Fattah’s cancellation – has confirmed Greek author and economist Yanis Varoufakis will still visit Adelaide as part of his national book tour.

Republished from InDaily